José Trevizo, 77 years old, becomes the most recent fatality of drivers who drive at high speed on city streets; while the Boyle Heights community asks authorities to install electronic surveillance systems.
Trevizo died after a spectacular collision. His car was hit a week ago by the car in which two young men, ages 17 and 18, were traveling, allegedly at more than 80 miles per hour.
“It is very common here that no one respects the speed limits,” said María Ramírez, a peace activist, who spoke about the dangers that residents of this region of the city of Los Angeles experience daily and at any time.
Usually, on city streets in Los Angeles, the speed limit is 35 miles per hour, and 25 miles per hour in residential areas and near schools.
Known in Boyle Heights as “María la del Barrio,” the elderly woman reported that, on the corner [de la calle Fresno y Cuarta] where the young people hit Mr. Trevizo’s car, she herself was hit by a truck three years ago.
“I’m old, but I withstood the blow,” said María Ramírez, who also advocates for the authorities to put a stop to the illegal takeover of streets and clandestine races.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, Trevizo was heading west on Fourth Street and turning left onto southbound Fresno Street when the other car, which was heading east on Fourth Street, collided with his car. .
In a security video you can see how the Mercedes-Benz hits Trevizo’s Honda car from the side.
At the place where the tragedy occurred, local residents have placed vases with carnations and roses, as well as candles.
Precisely at the intersection of Fourth and Fresno streets, the bumper of one of the cars involved in the crash still remains.
“The man was heading home after playing cards and buying donuts at an establishment in Boyle Heights, where he met with his friends every day,” said the aunt of Anthony, José Trevizo’s grandson, who asked not to. be identified.
“When I saw the video of the crash, it looked like something out of a movie.”
His granddaughter Vanessa Trevizo opened a GoFundMe account to cover José Francisco Trevizo’s funeral expenses.
Mireya Flores, a woman born in Salvatierra, Guanajuato, who has lived for more than 40 years in the neighborhood where the collision of vehicles occurred, stated that, although fatal accidents are not very repeated, “on this street (Cuatro) the “Motorists don’t respect anyone and drive like crazy.”
“I remember a man who crashed in 1990, on this corner of Cuatro and Fresno streets,” said Mrs. Flores. “The car exploded into flames and the person who was driving was charred to death. “Not even the firefighters were able to arrive.”
They are not statistics…, they are fatalities
According to a recent report by Jon Regardie of Crowwtown, the city of Los Angeles is on track to record more than 300 vehicle-related deaths for the third year in a row.
Although the number of deaths in traffic accidents in the first nine months of 2024 decreased slightly compared to the same period in 2023, the situation on the streets and highways remains very dangerous.
From January 1 to September 1, 228 vehicle-related deaths were recorded, according to data from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Traffic Division. This represents 14 fewer deaths than in the same period in 2023.
However, at the end of 2023, the city gained national attention because the year’s 345 fatalities surpassed the city’s 327, including gang-related deaths.
And, while the current count is virtually unchanged from 2022, it represents a 29.6% increase over the first nine months of 2019.
Education and awareness of a mother
Lili Trujillo-Puckett, founder and executive director of the Street Racing Kills organization, said an irresponsible driver’s speed of more than 80 miles per hour was what took her daughter Valentina’s life on December 7, 2013.
Valentina, 16, died after a young man who was participating in a street race crashed while giving her a ride home.
“Since then I haven’t stopped, trying to create education and awareness so that people know that you have to have that respect when driving,” explains Trujillo-Puckett, who added that he sees flowers everywhere at the memorials.
“We see them every day, so we don’t need a sign telling us: Hey, drive sober. Put on your seat belt. Don’t text while driving. Don’t speed up.”
Valentina’s mother stressed that, every time you see the flowers in the streets, you know that someone died.
“Does anyone know what’s behind the monument? Only the victims know: behind the memorial there is mourning and pain; having to go to court and come home to an empty room or having to plan a funeral,” he said.
He commented that it is possible that someone could go to jail, go to court and spend the rest of their life in prison, a totally different life than the one they used to have.
“But there are also victims who have just lost a brother, a sister or a daughter like me,” he says. “We have to save their roads. Together we can achieve it. “When we put our hands on the wheel, we can make a difference.”
Injured…, dead and responsible people fleeing
On November 16 of this year, around 9:00 pm, the driver of a vehicle that was involved in a traffic collision fled the scene, leaving a 71-year-old man with serious injuries.
In a crash on Ventura Boulevard in Encino on November 18, a Nissan Altima vehicle struck the elderly man, who suffered serious injuries. A surveillance camera captured the crash.
On November 5, a woman was struck and killed by a vehicle after colliding with another car on the corner of 87th Street and Central Avenue in south central Los Angeles.
The accident occurred around 12:05 a.m. The victim was only described as a woman.
Anyone with information about either accident can contact Detective Karla Carrillo of the Southern Traffic Division at (323) 421-2500. During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (877-527-3247). Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477).
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Traffic Division is asking for the public’s assistance in locating the hit-and-run driver.
On October 27, at approximately 9:55 pm, a previously unknown vehicle struck and killed Oscar Guardado, 42, who was riding his bicycle on Normandie Avenue, near the intersection with 23rd Street.
Any information related to the fatal crash can be provided anonymously through www.lacrimestoppers.org at the LAPD Southern Traffic Division or by calling Sergeant Gabriel Nily at 323-421-2500.
Rewards
On April 15, 2015, the City Council amended the Los Angeles Administrative Code and created a Hit and Run Reward Program Trust Fund.
“There is a reward [de hasta $50,000] available to community members who provide information that leads to the identification, apprehension and conviction or resolution of the offender through a civil commitment,” LAPD spokesperson David Cuellar told La Opinión.
For drivers, Officer Cuellar reminded that if they are involved in a collision, they should stop as soon as it is safe to do so, notify emergency services and remain at the scene to identify themselves. It also reminds motorcyclists to obey the rules of the road and drive at a safe speed.